• 5
• My Best Meal in Japan

As my review says, this was my best meal in Japan, having lived there for three years and visited many times over the last ten years. While it doesn't offer the full temple dining experience of Shojin-Ryori, in a way Little Heaven offers the best of all worlds of Shojin, Western food, Japanese food and the popular Japanese fusion style cooking. Like shojin, the food is beautifully prepared, with each of many dishes being a work of art in itself that you don't want to destroy by eating. And while Shojin can be as cheap as a few thousand yen for a simple temple meal, Little Heaven offers a meal comparable to many temples for a fraction of the price (my meal cost about 7,000 Yen). The owner (who used to run one of my favourite restaurants in Tokyo) and the chef are friendly and welcoming, and clearly passionate about their food; they brought out raw ingredients to explain the ingredients, including the many local varieties of vegetables which made up my feast. At the table before I arrived was a full-page English-language description of my meal, course by course. Meals need to be booked at least three days in advance, and I was so glad that I (just) managed to sneak in my booking. It's well worth it, even if it will be your most expensive meal in Kyoto. It will also be your best.